


Artistic Expression

by lalalovesmusic3



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: AU plays on canon exr quotes, Almost smut, Alternate Universe - College/University, Based on a Tumblr Post, Dark Room, Enjolras is a PoliSci Major who doesn't know how to photography, Eventual Sex, First Kiss, Grantaire is an Art Major who knows how to photography, Greek God Enjolras, M/M, Making Out, One Shot, Photography, References to Canon, Seduction, Smoker Grantaire, Surprise Kissing, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 02:16:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4373363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalalovesmusic3/pseuds/lalalovesmusic3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In short, a College AU in which Grantaire answers Enjolras's silent plea for help on his photography project.</p><p> </p><p>“Did- did you just offer to help me because you think I’m hot?” Enjolras asked, smiling in disbelief.<br/>“Well…” Grantaire danced around in place. “Yes and no. You caught my eye the first day of class, and when I walked in here I considered striking up a conversation, but my nerves got the best of me. When I saw you were still here after I got lunch, I thought you may actually be in need of my expertise. So I came to the rescue.” He bowed.<br/>“Thanks again,” Enjolras said, trying to keep a straight face. This beanie-wearing-scruffy-faced-cigarette-smoking art major who probably gets high or drunk by himself on Sunday nights while listening to The Smiths was flirting with him, and he was really trying hard not to be into it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Artistic Expression

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw a post on tumblr that was something like, "someone give me an eXr photography dark room makeout fic," so uh, here it is. Just some warnings, I've never dealt with photography and film and stuff so I tried to be as vague as possible with all of that. Apologies to all of the film aficionados. Also, I've never written smut, or even close to smut, so I'm not sure if I wrote it well? Maybe? Anyway, my tumblr's are musiclovinwallflower (main) and emptychairs-lonelymadman (fandom) if you want to connect on the internets.

Photography was not Enjolras’s subject. He just couldn’t “see” from the lense like the other students. Oh well. He just needed to pass this as a general arts elective for his political science major. The class would be over at the end of the semester; he couldn’t wait.

The worst part of the class was dealing with the film. The development process had been explained to him many, many times before, by his professor and peers alike. He thought he might be doing it correctly, but at the same time, he wouldn’t be surprised at all if he had been doing the exact opposite of what he was supposed to.

The door to the darkroom opened. He guarded his negatives from the light immediately; that was one thing he retained about developing film. It was probably just another student working on their midterm project, he didn’t look to see who exactly. Hopefully they would sense his struggle and offer to help because there was no way he himself was going to _ask_ for help.

It had been about a half hour since the other student walked in, and Enjolras wasn’t any further in his project. Whoever the person was, they were either some sort of genius that was already done, or they were taking a break, because they were going to the door again. Enjolras just kept on working. Before he knew it, he door opened again.

“You’re still here?”

Enjolras was startled. He looked up. It was Grantaire. He didn’t know him that well, he kind of seemed like a jerk, but he was the most talented student in his photography class, as far as he knew.

“Yeah,” Enjolras let out in an annoyed sigh.

“I just went out to grab a bite from the dining hall, I came back to print a few more, but…” Grantaire hesitated. “Do you want some help?”

“Yes, please,” he exclaimed, almost too quickly.

Grantaire laughed and walked over to Enjolras’s table.

“I’m Grantaire, by the way. And you’re…?”

“Enjolras,” he responded. “I think we’re in the same photography class?”

“Yeah, yeah, I thought you looked familiar. That class is honestly a drag for me. I just need the credit, I’m an art major, but I’ve been doing this stuff since I was a kid,” Grantaire explained.

“Well, thank God, because I’m completely lost.”

Grantaire smiled. He explained how to develop the film, while processing one of Enjolras’s negatives, so he could see an example. It was starting to click, and it was about time it did, Enjolras thought.

“And there we go,” Grantaire said, setting the work aside. “Do you wanna try one now?”

Enjolras nodded. Grantaire watched intently, looking at what he was doing, to make sure he didn’t mess up too bad, but occasionally looked to his face. Enjolras’s eyebrows furrowed, some faint lines forming on his forehead. He seemed so concentrated.

Grantaire had just been trying to act casual when he was introducing himself to Enjolras, but he had known who he was. They’d never really talked before, but he sure had noticed him in class. And he may have acted like the class clown so Enjolras would notice him. Enjolras was always super serious in class, only talking to a few other students, and always seemed less than thrilled to be there. But damn could that guy be a Calvin Klein model.

“Is that it?” Enjolras asked, genuinely unsure.

“Yeah,” Grantaire nodded. “Nice. You’re a natural.”

“Oh sure,” he laughed. “I’m far from it.”

Grantaire thought for a second.

“Hey. What do you say that you do the next four, and I’ll do the last three? So you’re not here too long,” he offered.

“Isn’t that cheating?”

“I mean, no, you were the one that took the pictures. I’m just helping you get them from the camera to the paper. And they don’t have to know.”

Enjolras looked unsure.

“Come on. Do you actually care that much about photography? Or do you just want to pass this class?”

Enjolras sighed.

“Okay, fine. You’re better at this anyways.”

Grantaire smiled.

“Excellent. I’ll supervise you until it’s my turn.”  
Enjolras rolled his eyes and got to work. It didn’t end up taking him as long as he thought it would; he finally got into the swing of things halfway through.

“I told you you were a natural,” Grantaire said, looking at Enjolras’s work. “Alright. Your project will be done before you know it.”

Grantaire was right. Enjolras looked at the project. It was amazing, and thanks to Grantaire, it was done in roughly a third of the time it would’ve taken himself to do it.

“Hey man, thanks so much. You saved my grade. I owe you,” Enjolras said, shaking Grantaire’s hand.

“Oh, you don’t owe me. Don’t worry about it. I was just helping a brother out,” he replied.

Enjolras was pleasantly surprised with his first real encounter with Grantaire. He actually seemed to be a nice, helpful guy. He thought he just messed around in class, making the professor mad, but not actually mad, because the professor wasn’t going to kick out his most talented student, and Grantaire knew it.

“Hey, do you mind if I watch you finish your project? Just so I make sure I don’t forget for the next one.”

“Yeah, sure, of course,” Grantaire blushed. Enjolras couldn’t see that though, as it was, in fact, a dark room.

Enjolras watched Grantaire develop his film, mentally noting the steps in his head. He really wanted to remember them for next time so he wouldn’t have to plead for help at the last minute again. Grantaire was done even quicker than Enjolras, but that was expected. Grantaire sighed in completion. Enjolras looked at the pictures that Grantaire had taken. They looked like a professional had shot them. There was one of a bench, another of a mug of coffee, and one of an ashtray, all with the same artistic feel to them, plus more.

****  
  


“Grantaire-”

“You can call me ‘R’, if you want, a lot of people do,” Grantaire offered.

“Well, R, your pictures are amazing. They look professional,” Enjolras marveled.

“Awh, shucks, thanks Enjolras,” Grantaire giggled.

“I’m serious,” Enjolras insisted.

“Hi serious, I’m wild,” Grantaire joked in return.

Enjolras rolled his eyes.

“How do you take such good pictures?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I guess I’ve just always had an eye for it.”

He smirked.

“And you know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think a good-looking guy like you as a subject in my pictures would be an excellent artistic choice,” Grantaire flirted.

Enjolras leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms, looking skeptically at Grantaire. He shook his head and licked his lips as he let out a laugh, not making things any easier for his classmate.

“Did- did you just offer to help me because you think I’m hot?” Enjolras asked, smiling in disbelief.

“Well…” Grantaire danced around in place. “Yes and no. You caught my eye the first day of class, and when I walked in here I considered striking up a conversation, but my nerves got the best of me. When I saw you were still here after I got lunch, I thought you may actually be in need of my expertise. So I came to the rescue.” He bowed.

“Thanks again,” Enjolras said, trying to keep a straight face. This beanie-wearing-scruffy-faced-cigarette-smoking art major who probably gets high or drunk by himself on Sunday nights while listening to The Smiths was flirting with him, and he was really trying hard not to be into it.

“You knew my name before I introduced myself, didn’t you?”

“You bet I did.”

Grantaire only seemed to be getting more confident.

“You were the one that said you recognized me. Did the class clown leave an impression on Mr. Student Body President?” he taunted, stepping closer and closer to Enjolras, his tone becoming quieter, more sultry and teasing.

Enjolras cleared his throat, caught off guard.

“Yes, he did. Not necessarily a good one,” he argued.

“Is that impression changing?” Grantaire continued, still coming closer.

“Maybe. It’s changing by the minute if I’m being honest,” said Enjolras, still not budging. Grantaire raised an eyebrow.

“Well what’s your impression of me right now?”

Enjolras broke eye contact and looked off to the side, laughing. He couldn’t do this right now.

“Come on now, don’t be shy,” Grantaire whispered, inching even closer.

Enjolras let out a groaning sigh. He knew what he was getting into.

“I’m realizing you’re a lot different than what I thought you were like,” he started. _What the hell._

“Is that good?” Grantaire interrupted, looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes.

Enjolras met his eyes with a piercing gaze.

“Very good,” Enjolras whispered, his tone matching Grantaire’s.

Grantaire grinned smugly.

“And you know what?”

“What?”

“I think even though I can’t stand the smell of tobacco, I really wouldn’t mind if you kept coming closer.”

Grantaire stepped so they were maybe an inch apart. Enjolras grabbed Grantaire’s waist and slid his hands down to his hips, beginning to rub circles into his hipbones with his thumbs. He kept his piercing eye contact, not breaking it, not even smiling. Grantaire’s mouth twisted up into a scheming smile. He slipped his hands in Enjolras’s back pockets. Enjolras’s eyes grew wide and stopped circling his thumbs.

“You’re grabby!” He exclaimed, laughing.

“And you’re firm,” Grantaire retorted, taking his hands out of Enjolras’s pockets, and smacked him playfully on the ass.

Enjolras shook his head, still laughing. He began circling with his thumbs again, applying a bit more pressure this time. Grantaire wrapped his hands in the small of Enjolras’s back, pulling himself closer to him. He exhaled deeply. Enjolras closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. When he opened his eyes, Grantaire was looking him up and down slowly, shaking his head slightly.

“What?”

Grantaire’s eyes continued.

“What a fine statue…” he murmured to himself. He snapped out of his gaze and met Enjolras’s eyes again. “You’re like a Greek god, like Apollo or something,” he stated plainly.

Enjolras scoffed.

“Yeah, barely.”

“Now I’m the one being serious; you’re stunning.”

Enjolras rolled his eyes.

Grantaire lowered his eyes down slightly from Enjolras’s. He sighed quickly.

“And you have really nice lips,” he said, frustratedly. “I kind of want to kiss them.” He nodded to himself, still staring.

“Oh, do you now?” Enjolras teased, ducking his head lightly to Grantaire’s.

“Yeah, I do,” Grantaire teased back, the space between them lessening as they teased each other.

There was a quick silence. Grantaire moved his hand from Enjolras’s back to his hair, yanking his head back as he kissed Enjolras suddenly. Enjolras had anticipated this kiss, but it’s sudden swiftness had still caught him by surprise. He gave in, their lips molding together softly. Enjolras pulled Grantaire closer by the hips. At that, Grantaire pressed himself against Enjolras’s thigh, causing him to let out a gasp. Grantaire bit Enjolras’s bottom lip and ran his tongue slowly across it, into his mouth. Enjolras moved his hands from Grantaire’s hips to his ass.

“Who’s grabby now?” Grantaire whispered teasingly as he dragged his lip around Enjolras’s mouth.

Enjolras whispered a curse and squeezed his ass quickly. Grantaire smiled into the kiss and began to grind his hips into Enjolras’s thigh.

This was not how Enjolras planned to spend his afternoon. At all. This change of plans was really, really, enjoyable though. He’d think about the aftermath later.

Enjolras lifted his back from the wall, swiftly flipping around so Grantaire was now pinned against it, without breaking the kiss. He took each of Grantaire’s hands in his own, gently intertwining their fingers. Grantaire pulled away from the kiss, looking down and obviously blushing, and played with Enjolras’s hands. Enjolras released his hand, and lifted Grantaire’s face to meet his eyes. He kissed Grantaire delicately on the lips, causing him to smile sheepishly.

The smirk had moved to Enjolras’s face. He grabbed Grantaire’s wrists and pinned his arms to the wall forcefully, above his head, as he pressed his mouth to his again. Grantaire let out a whimpering, “Enjolras,” as he moved his mouth down Grantaire’s neck, making sure he was leaving marks as he trailed down to his collarbone.

“I- I didn’t think you were even attracted to people,” Grantaire panted as he rested his against the wall, quite enjoying what Enjolras was doing with his mouth.

Enjolras pulled away, still with a smirk on his face.

“Well, this day is just full of surprises isn’t it?” he winked.

Grantaire rolled his eyes with a grin and shook his head. He looked Enjolras up and down, inspecting, clearly with a certain type of intentions in mind. He met Enjolras’s eyes and licked his lips, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m the muse, aren’t I?” Enjolras teased. “I’m yours,” he added in a whisper.

With that, Grantaire moved his hands to Enjolras’s shirt collar, and began unbuttoning his shirt. As he did so, he left a trail of kisses across his chest, lightly dragging his tongue across Enjolras’s skin, giving him goosebumps. Grantaire continued unbuttoning Enjolras’s shirt, kissing along the way down, eventually choosing to kneel once he reached his stomach. When Enjolras noticed this, his breathing hitched; he sent his hands mindlessly into Grantaire’s hair, sliding off the beanie he was wearing. He ran his lips along the lines by Enjolras’s hipbones, causing him to mutter something under his breath. Grantaire glanced down to notice the bulge that had filled out Enjolras’s jeans, and smiled up to him.

“Am I still leaving a good impression?” he joked.

Enjolras’s face turned stern at that, and just looked away, making a frustrated noise. He gasped as Grantaire pressed his face into his thigh, only for a brief second. Grantaire hopped back up to his feet and began rebuttoning Enjolras’s shirt. When he was done, he kissed Enjolras again, who was still warm and flustered by Grantaire’s teasing. He looked into his eyes, smiling sweetly, then suddenly palmed at Enjolras crotch. Enjolras’s mouth gaped in surprise, letting out a moan. Grantaire stopped, laughing.

“You’re awful,” Enjolras groaned.

Grantaire’s smile just grew bigger.

Enjolras shook his head frustratedly. Yeah, this definitely wasn’t what he had planned for today. He looked Grantaire up and down, and smirked once his eyes fell to Grantaire’s skinny jeans.

“Those pants are looking a little tight,” Enjolras informed teasingly. “Wanna take care of that back in my dorm?”

Grantaire smiled in surprise.

**“As you wish, Mr. President.”**

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Changing My Major](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5067961) by [queenallyababwa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenallyababwa/pseuds/queenallyababwa)




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